2,688 research outputs found
"Pushing the Envelope” a modeling-based approach to the development of organic, responsive architectural form
This paper tests design procedures for the development of complex, organic architectural forms. It illustrates a postgraduate student design process, implementing a development sequence based on the intelligent manipulation of architectural envelopes using a variety of existing modeling tools and emerging digital techniques. These stages of development respond to imposed spatial and environmental constraints. The tests began with full-scale modeling of small segments. The major constraints at this stage were spatial requirements and the physical characteristics of materials. The forms derived from the bending properties of prestressed green timber and the dimensions of shingle cladding. This was followed by digital 3D modeling using common commercial applications. At this stage initial models were derived from a traditional space requirement brief. The envelopes for these activities were then manipulated to respond to the spatial limitations imposed by surrounding buildings. This digital modeling process metaphorically "pushed the limits” as vertices of the envelope model were stretched and shifted to achieve a perceived "fit” between the two sets of spatial dimensions. The spatially manipulated geometry was then imported into Ecotect, an environmental analysis package. As an example, the envelope's morphology and cladding material options on the acoustic qualities of the surrounding space were tested. The improved geometry was then imported into a Virtual Reality room, in which the spatial experience was simulated in presentations to the design team and potential occupants. This room utilized six projectors to create an immersive experience to users wearing stereoscopic goggles, and moving in a space surrounded by three large screens, creating a CAVE-like presentation space. Finally there was an attempt to complete the circle by returning from the simulated world to the physical worlds, by creating full-scale models from the digital geometry. This included low-cost techniques such as the generation of paper facets, and the use of more expensive rapid prototyping technology
Adapting home : residential development and domestic comfort in Vermont
Vermont is experiencing a loss of “ruralness” as social insulation replaces physical comfort as the driver of residential design. Furthermore, the pre-packaged comfort often associated with social insulation requires an upfront cost. The variety of Vermont’s housing stock is limited, as most homes are single-family and 36% of Vermonters are currently cost-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on housing. Ultimately, there is a shortage of housing that can affordably meet diverse comfort needs. Without the ability to adapt the home over time, in the tradition of the local Vermont home, the house is only compatible with specific familial compositions and incomes. By providing the means to adapt a dwelling at will, residents are able to customize the home to fit their individual physical and social comfort needs, based on income and family demographics. In turn, this infuses the housing stock with a variety of affordable homes in the tradition of the local Vermont home
East Village at Knutsford: A Case Study in Sustainable Urbanism
With increasing pressure to ensure that sustainability features in homes are commercially viable, demonstration projects are vital to highlight the real-world challenges and opportunities for innovation. This paper documents the incorporation of sustainability objectives into the “East Village at Knutsford” residential “living laboratory” development, within the Knutsford urban regeneration precinct, approximately 1.5 km east of the Fremantle central business district in Western Australia. The sustainability objectives for the project include being a “Net Zero Energy Development” using 100% renewable energy and maximizing the self-supply of energy, reducing mains water consumption as much as is practical, and using the landscape design to complement these objectives without compromising a best-practice urban greening outcome. The paper documents the design initiatives and strategies that have been included to achieve these objectives in a commercially viable project and the results of modelling where it has been used to test the design against the objectives to ensure their validity. The key features that have been incorporated into the townhouses component of the development are outlined, illustrating integrated design and systems thinking that builds on previous demonstration projects, incorporating solar energy storage and electric vehicle charging plus significant mains water savings by adopting water-sensitive features in the homes and the within the private and public gardens. The expected grid energy and mains water consumption levels in the homes through modelling compared to the metropolitan average is 80% lower. The project is presented as an important step in the application of available technologies and design features to meet stated sustainability objectives, highlighting the benefits of an embedded living laboratory research approach
Reconciling the dissonance between Historic Preservation and Virtual Reality through a Place-based Virtual Heritage system.
This study explores a problematic disconnect associated with virtual heritage and the immersive 3D computer modeling of cultural heritage. The products of virtual heritage often fail to adhere to long-standing principles and recent international conventions associated with historic preservation, heritage recording, designation, and interpretation. By drawing upon the geographic concepts of space, landscape, and place, along with advances in Geographic Information Systems, first-person serious games, and head-mounted Virtual Reality platforms this study envisions, designs, implements, and evaluates a virtual heritage system that seeks to reconcile the dissonance between Virtual Reality and historic preservation. Finally, the dissertation examines the contributions and future directions of such a Place-based Virtual Heritage system in human geography and historic preservation planning and interpretation
Remote Sensing Insights into Storage Capacities among Plains Village Horticulturalists
Maize was a fundamental component of the diet and economy of Middle Missouri Plains Village groups, sedentary farmers with settlements along the Missouri River during the last millennia. More than a century of study has contributed to our understanding of agricultural production among these peoples, but little effort has been made to consider temporal variation in production. Such an understanding is crucial to examining changes that occurred before and after the arrival of colonists and their trade goods in the seventeenth century. Plains archaeologists have suggested that the storage capacity of Middle Missouri villages increased during the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. In fact, the number and size of subterranean storage pits, ubiquitous features within most settlements, are thought to have grown during these centuries, which reflects greater agricultural production. To further examine changes in production and storage capacity during this centuries-long period, I combine information from historical documents, excavations, and geophysical investigations.
At Huff Village, a fifteenth-century community, excavations and magnetic gradiometry surveys reveal the size and distribution of storage pits. Their number and average volume suggest the villagers grew immense amounts of food and contributed to widespread intertribal trade. Furthermore, storage pit excavation data from 20 regional sites, dating from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, indicate pit volumes increased through the seventeenth century. A sharp decrease subsequently occurred during the eighteenth century due to epidemic disease. However, mean pit volumes were significantly larger during the nineteenth century, evidence of the resilience of Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras and the continued significance of maize. In fact, historical documents and remote sensing data suggest the Mandans and Arikaras, successive occupants of an earthlodge village near the American Fur Company’s Fort Clark, traded crucial resources, namely maize, to neighboring Native groups and fur traders during the early to mid-nineteenth century. While traditional colonial narratives describe the period in terms of culture decline and dependency, my study indicates the Mandans and Arikaras acted in their own self-interest and influenced and accommodated colonial fur traders along the Missouri River in the Northern Plains during the nineteenth century
A Practical Vision of Heritage Tourism in Low-Population- Density Areas. The Spanish Mediterranean as a Case Study
Heritage tourism bases its definition on searching for different, authentic, and somewhat
unexplored places. Recent literature speaks of the growth of new forms of tourism based on the
tradition that seeks to surprise visitors with popular culture, traditional activities, or actions that
bring traditional culture closer to tourists. However, the reality is that the influx of tourists to small
mountain villages is marked by the most “monumental” historical and architectural values, leaving
aside some other minor attributes. This article uses the historical centres of rural villages to place
inhabitants’ knowledge at the centre of tourism initiatives. The aim of the study was to develop
cohesive and inclusive tourism activities in historic centres by analysing the built environment’s
attributes and values. A participatory methodology marks the cultural change to enhance collaboration through transparent and ethical foundations and respect these places’ distinctive character.
The study of values helped to conduct an in-depth analysis of local realities to document and map
historical centres’ tangible attributes through crafts, traditional culture, and local heritage forms
The Stone Lab: Decoding Shikahogh Khachkars
"The Stone lab: Decoding Shikahogh Khachkars" is an MPhil by design, seeking to describe the role of Khachkar in formation of Armenian national identity through studies of the stone masonry and the notion of a territory, which in this case is represented with the Shikahogh village (Figs. 1 and 2). Although much study has been done on Khachkars in general, no prior research has been conducted on the historic cradle of Khachkars that is Shikahogh. The Stone lab aims to discover and interpret the stories of Shikahogh unknown Khachkars. Therefore the hybrid approach of experimental archaeology and digital reconstruction have been employed at the Shikahogh lab to unveil the hidden inscriptions of these Khachkars as well as to narrate the functions and technological processes behind their creation. This research portrays the driving factors of belonging and identify preservation underneath the context of Khachkar and Petroglyphic heritage of Armenia
Contribution to the kownledge of cultural heritage via a Heritage Information System (HIS): the case of “La Cultura del Agua” in Valverde de Burguillos, Badajoz (Spain)
Modern
science
is
going
through
a
period
of
important
reflection
on
the
role
of
different
agents
and
multiple
disciplines
in
the
management
and
safeguarding
of
architectural
heritage.
This
new
focus
generates
a
greater
amount
and
diversity
of
information,
so
the
implementation
of
a
unifying
tool
in
the
framework
of
digital
information
models
would
mean
a
better
knowledge
of
cultural
heritage
as
well
as
aiding
its
safeguarding
and
protection.
In
addition,
it
must
be
taken
into
account
that,
for
the
correct
management
of
information
in
its
broadest
dimension,
this
tool
must
make
it
possible
to
relate
alphanumeric
data
about
an
item
of
heritage
to
its
spatial
location.
In
this
sense,
this
article
proposes
a
Heritage
Information
System
(HIS)—understood
as
a
digital
knowledge
tool—that
consists
of
a
relational
database
and
a
map
manager
with
Geographic
Information
System
(GIS)
technology
(a
geodatabase).
The
methodology
suggested
here
sets
out
the
steps
that
make
up
the
HIS,
so
that
the
system
can
be
applied
to
other
geographical
elements
or
realities.
For
this
reason,
a
study
was
made
of
“La
Cultura
del
Agua”
in
Valverde
de
Burguillos
(Spain),
a
heritage
ensemble
that
consists
of
rural
architecture
and
dispersed
preindustrial
elements,
which
are
currently
at
risk.
The
HIS
seeks
to
develop
a
more
complete
identification
of
these
elements
(individually
and
as
a
system)
and
a
justified
argument
for
their
being
given
value
and
great
visibility.
This
new
approach
encourages
sustainable
development
in
terms
of
efficiency
and
effectiveness
for
the
analysis,
diagnosis,
and
reactivation
of
cultural
heritage,
always
placing
importance
on
the
balance
of
social
participation
with
the
territory
in
which
the
system
is
applied,
and
with
global
societ
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